Kaede
by Jager Nod
Summary: A sequel to my story "Crimson Eyes," this follows the life of Kaede in the world of Naruto. Sorry that I didn't put it in the Elfen Lied section like I did "Crimson Eyes..." There was no crossover section back when I made it. :P
1. Introduction

As she stared up at the godlike figurehead of the Akatsuki, Kaede learned the true meaning of intimidation. Every second felt like an eternity, until finally Kaede noticed a woman with blue hair, and an origami crafted flower stuck in it approaching from within the massive statue/tower structure.

"What am I to do with her, Pein?" Pein responded, without turning away from Kaede, "At the moment, she is of little use to us. First, she must learn how to mold chakra, and that chakra must permeate throughout her entire being. Until then, we have no way of obtaining what we need from her… Konan, when you have the time, I would like you to teach her about chakra."

Konan lowered her head to Pein in reverence, and then looked down at Kaede. "Come with me, little one."

Cautiously, Kaede pulled her gaze away from Pein's, and walked towards Konan. _How cold she looks, or sad… I cannot tell. _

Unlike Itachi, Konan did not offer Kaede a smile, or a hand, she simply nodded her head as a gesture for Kaede to follow her, and began walking. At once, Kaede followed close behind, holding lightly onto Konan's Akatsuki Robe.

The rain continued pouring heavily as they headed into the tower-like statue. Just before heading inside, Kaede turned back once to glance at Pein. Pein was facing the pouring rain, looking straight up; his eyes, however, we closed.

After passing through a hall, with only one door in it, they reached a flight of stairs. From the looks of it, the stairs would lead all the way down to the ground, with one door leading into each level of the tower. They only descended one flight of stairs, however, before Konan pulled out a key and entered into a door. When Kaede was on the other side of the door, Konan locked it, and began walking down a hallway.

After passing several doors, Konan stopped in front of one in particular, and unlocked it, leading inside Kaede. "I am, at the moment, too busy to deal with your teachings. I will, however, answer a question or two of yours, in order to put your mind at ease, if you would like."

Kaede did not hesitate to ask the biggest questions she had in mind, "Where are we?"

"Amegakure."

"Why did you bring me here?"

"I was ordered to."

"What do you want with me?"

"There is nothing that I, personally, want from you. As to what Pein wants with you, I have no idea. I must be going now, I apologize. You are free to roam this tower, and the city as you desire. You are forbidden to harm anyone, and tell no one where you are from or your name should they ask. If someone wishes to know, merely tell them either that you are a servant of the Lady Angel, or of Pein-sama. Also, please do not try to escape. Pein may become rather upset."

**If you guys are lost on this, read Crimson Eyes. Btw, I wasn't really going to write this, but so many people sent me messages that they wanted a follow-up story about Kaede's life in the Naruto world that I couldn't resist. Here it is, I'll update soon! (Also please review.)**


	2. Training

She had only been there for a month, but already Kaede was accustomed to the routine. Each morning, she would wake at 5:00 AM. Konan would have her stretch, run laps, do pushups, pull-ups, and essentially go through muscle conditioning until noon. At this point, she would be allowed a two hour break where she could do as she pleased. At 2:00 PM, she would be trained in chakra manipulation and consistently more difficult 'basic' jutsu as Konan called them until 5:00 PM. Again, she would be allowed a two hour reprieve, and then her studies would carry on from 7:00 PM until 10:00 PM, at which point she would be free until the next morning at 5:00 AM.

And of course, each Monday she was exempt from the muscle condition as Konan would take a rather large blood sample from her. Her favorite days, however, were Saturday and Sunday, as she was required only to do the muscle condition, albeit extended an extra hour. It was during these days she would roam the village and explore. Although, the minor downside was that each Sunday it would rain all day, and she had to train out in that rain.

It was Saturday, and Konan was taking a break from training Kaede, as the morning condition did not require her attention. "How is she coming along?" The leader of the Akatsuki asked, rather uninterestedly. As usual, he was staring off into the distance, and as usual, Konan followed his gaze as she answered, "She has proven to be extremely talented in regards to chakra manipulation, and is excelling, learning each new technique I teach her within one to two days. At the same time, her physical condition, and her education are coming along far beyond our former expectations. She is proving to be quite the prodigy."

Amazingly, the leader looked back at her as he asked the next question, "And the blood?" Konan nodded towards him, "It is developing the chakra as we intended. If we give it another year or so, the chakra should have her blood so densely saturated that it will become usable for whatever it is that that man intends." Pein nodded in affirmation, "Sending us to so many worlds… It's interesting, almost as though he intends on creating some sort of super hybrid…"

As their conversation continued, beneath the tower, Kaede had finished her shower and lunch, and was finally leaving to enjoy a day out on the town. _It's weird, I feel so different now… Now that I think about it. My body and mind are so… 'Tempered' I think is the word. I feel like a different person than I was a month ago. Back then, I would undoubtedly have only my vectors, but now, I feel like I can actually fight someone. And I think all this training and my new special diet they've put me on has made me grow a little, to boot. _

Kaede began walking along the streets, wearing a brownish-gray cloak that concealed her body and most of her head, and most importantly, her horns. As usual, her eyes were slightly lowered, in order to avoid being conspicuous.

After having walked for a while, Kaede came upon a canal which ran through the village, and suddenly, she noticed something emerging from the water. She barely avoided the kunai knife as it flew past her head and made a slight cut on her robe. Immediately it was followed by two shinobi flying towards her, either to kill her or take her hostage, she didn't know, however, she was ready, and leapt back again.

Both of them were wearing a headband similar to the leader's, except it had no cut through it, and they appeared to be wearing some sort of wetsuit and mask, likely to help them infiltrate the village underwater. The one on the left drew a kunai knife, and the one on the right took a step back and began performing hand signs.

As this kunai flew towards her, she decided to take no risks, and stopped it with her vectors. At this, the shinobi appeared shocked, the one performing hand signs had actually stopped. "Wh-what? I thought only that Pein guy had that kind of ability!" Before the other could respond, the kunai was sticking out of his head.

Kaede then turned her attention towards the one who had been in the back performing hand signs. "What is it you've come to our village for?" She asked, peeling back her hood and revealing her pink hair, pale skin, crimson eyes, and horns.

"We've come… To retake our rightful place as the rulers of this village!" Screamed the man as he began charging. Of course, as he approached, he was suddenly stopped, as his heart was torn from his chest. Immediately, his corpse fell onto the ground.

_It was technically self defense. I should probably tell Konan-sensei though. _

Nodding to herself, Kaede sprinted towards the tower, and quickly made her way to the top, where she found Konan and Pein gazing off into the distance.

"Um… Pardon my intrusion, but um…" Kaede stuttered, she had hoped that Pein wouldn't be there. "E-excuse me, Konan-sensei."

Konan turned towards her; as Pein continued staring off into the distance, "Is there something you…" Konan paused as she noticed some blood on the front of the cloak, and a slight tear near the hood. "What happened?"

"Two men came out of a stream and attacked me, and I killed them both. They wore headbands like… Um…" She paused, pointing at Pein, "B-but without a cut in them."

Konan let out a sigh, "More of them? I'd thought that we'd scared the last of them off… Good work, Kaede. You're dismissed."

Kaede nodded, realizing that this was a polite way of telling her to go away, and made her way back to the bottom of the tower.

As she exited, she noticed that it had begun raining, and by the time she had returned to where the corpses, were, she saw that the bodies were gone, and the rain had washed the blood into the canal.

Another month of the same routine passed with no incidents, and each day, Kaede was noticing swift improvements. What last month she had considered a tempered body she would now have considered soft. Each week, the difficulty of her daily routine would increase greatly, and each week, she would somehow manage it. Finally, Konan decided her new skills should be put to use on the weekends, rather than simply conditioning her.

The time off she had each day was cut in half, and now approached her first mission. Understandably, Kaede was nervous as she found herself standing in line to enter the office of Lady Angel for mission assignments. There were three people in front of her, and those behind her couldn't stop themselves from discussing how the standards of Amegakure must be going way down, since they saw an eight year old girl in the line.

When she finally was in front, Kaede's nervousness nearly caused Konan to sigh, herself. "Kaede, good to see you… Your assignment is a C-Rank mission. You will be escorting this boy…" She continued, pointing towards a boy who was standing against the wall, wearing a dark blue cloak that concealed all but his mouth and chin, "To Konohagakure. To enter the village, you will need to present this pass at the front gate. You may take up to two days to rest while there. Anyway, I want you back within fourteen days. Is that understood?"

Kaede nodded, but couldn't help protesting, "S… Um… Lady Angel? Is it okay, to send me that far away from the village on my first real mission?" Konan nodded at her, "You have proven to be quite the capable shinobi, I know you can handle yourself."

At that Kaede nodded at the boy to follow her, and they both made their way to the bottom of the tower, neither uttering a single word, nor even sparing each other a glance.

**School's finally done! Now I can do all this writing without feeling like I should be spending all this time on school work lol! Anyway, please comment and let me know what you think!**


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